This is my first crack at growing after years of research. I finally think I am ready to undertake this small operation. I have built a box from plywood and primed and painted it flat white. The dimensions are roughly 4 feet high, 3 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. I have an aerogarden that was purchased a few years ago, so I might as well use it. I also built my own CFL fixture and placed the aerogarden lighting unit on top and zip tied it. I have 8 20 watt vegging bulbs and 2 standard bulbs that came with the aerogarden. I started a little under two weeks ago. I also have 5 outside in pots, 1 that was started in the aerogarden and transplanted. Currently their are two plants in the box itself with the aero. I will attach pictures in a min. FYI the box is a work in progress. Their currently is no exhaust or intake, I just received the fan today and will be installing it shortly. All electrical will soon be fixed with a mounted surge protector. For now things will lie on the ground and the door will be closed and opened every once in a while. The timer is set to 18/6. Also there is a DIY co2 bottle inside the box. Nothing special, just felt like the 5 mins it took to put together was worth whatever little it helped. Let me know what you guys think, comments, concerns, anything is appreciated.
I am using a two part "grow" nutrient system for the aerogarden. I forget the name right now, update later. I am not really sure what kind of feeding cycle I should use with this, but I started off giving them 1 tablespoon every few days when I added more water. Now they seemed to like it so I upped it to 2 tablespoons every two days or so. Any help on this would be appreciated. Am I feeding too frequently? I did have one accident so far. The pvc lighting fixture you see, fell on the plants when I was trying to balance it for rear box lighting before I got my chain to hang it. The frame was not attached to the reflector then so it didn't do too much damage. The smaller of the plants got two branches snapped off. Wasn't happy about that. Can't dwell though. I do not currently have a check valve. I had a pack before but it got lost in storage. Hence the cereal boxes in case the breaker trips or something to keep them above the water level. My stanley fan has been keeping shit cool. Originally it was intended to be the exhaust fan but I changed my mind to save space and save my amazing Stanley for the hot days. I bought a 240 cfm booster fan off amazon. 160 cfm actual I believe. I figured this was enough for my little box. I will be installing that as soon as I get a jigsaw. Largest holesaw I have is 4 inches. Perfect for the intake. Exhaust is 6 inches. Figured the ratio was good. Lastly my diy CO2 concoction. Got the recipe off grasscity. Thanks to the author. 2 cups sugar, 2 cups warm water. Mix and then add 1 tablespoon yeast after it cools a little. Just added that today. hoping it helps. Again, any tips would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time trying this out but I've been lurking grasscity for at least 5 or 6 years now, taking in information. Trying to prepare and learn. But I'm here now posting so I'd like to meet the community a bit. Rumple has been a person I've admired for quite some time now.
other then the fact they look a little stretched, they look healthy and happy, nice dark green leaves with no signs of heat stress or any deficiencies.
Awesome to hear. Thanks guys. I owe it all to the community of grasscity. Learned almost everything from here. I just got back from work today and found that they drank almost all their water. Sons of bitches. Quickly filled it up but didn't add any nutrients. Should I add some? I just added two tablespoons yesterday of part A and B nutrient.
Okay back again to update. Sorry its been a while, work and life gets in the way. So my plants had another little accident. This is my first attempt and while vacuuming ( I know prob not the best idea) the sawdust after cutting out the exhaust fan, part of a fan leaf ripped off. Doesn't seem like a huge deal, I imagine the plant will be a little stressed. Also cut off a few unhealthy looking branches on both plants. Waiting for a recovery now and hopefully the quick aerogarden growing will continue. Just got my PH testing supplies in the mail. PH is now properly balanced, it was sitting a little low. 4-5 range. Seems ok now. Got a TDS meter coming in the mail very soon. Along with some more nutrients due to the fact I'm running out of vertical room and should probably put the girls into flowering soon. Will post some pics and some more updates soon.
Got some pics of my wiring job. My internal power. My new exhaust fan installation. Recently purchased a thermometer/humility gauge pictured. My leaves seem to be drooping a bit today. Could it be from the stress of a interrupted light cycle? What should I do for intake? For now I have the door cracked open. My exhaust fan is 6 inches roughly. Would two 6 inch holes suffice? My question with this is how would I be able to pump in fresh air from the outside if I have two areas?
Havnt showed my outdoor yet, that is coming most likely tomorrow. They are growing beautifully though. No weird spots, nothing. Just perfect green growing leaves. One of them I started in the aerogarden and transplanted outdoors. (By far the best growing one out of the five I have.) I used my own soil mix. Some blood meal, worm castings, decent potting soil, llama shit, kelp meal, and maybe one more ingredient I may be missing. It was worked perfectly so far. With only a few waterings with a make shift kelp tea, they are gorgeous.
Okay, so switched some stuff up mid grow. Here's what has happened in the past day or two. - Installed two 6 inch intakes. Attached a short run of ducting to each and have it bent upwards for future expansion. Will eventually be running both to a T and then out the window for fresh air - Received my TDS meter and found out my ppm was 2000+. Siphoned out as much as I could of the res and refilled with GH nutes using the lucas formula. 0-5-10. PPM is now 703 which I feel is much more reasonable. This was the first time I emptied out the res since starting. Prob much needed. GH Flora and Micro are now my two primaries for fertilizer. - Swapped out two 6500k's 26 watts for two 20 watts 2700k's. Not particular reason why, just started to prepare for flowering soon.
WOOOO HOOOOO. The taller of the two showed its first pre flower. 99% positive its a female. Im gassed. Two little grey pistils. Havnt hit flowering yet, not sure if the other will show before then or not. Will be flowering within the month. Would it be okay to take a cutting from this before I toss it into flowering? Figure since its already showing signs it would be a good speciman so i dont have to change the clone from flowering to veg.